Solyndra players at Obama fundraiser

PIEDMONT, Calif. – Among the guests at President Obama’s fundraiser Monday night was Steve Westly, a venture capitalist and 2008 bundler who warned the administration in 2010 about its investment in Solyndra, the failed solar company that received $535 million in federal loan guarantees.

Westly and former Energy official Matt Rogers, who handled stimulus grants in the Solyndra loan guarantee process, were in the audience at Obama’s $35,800-a-plate fundraiser here.

At the fundraiser Westly juggled lemons and entertained children. He sat at a table farthest from Obama as the president spoke.

Westly, a former California state controller and state chief financial officer who made an unsuccessful 2006 run for governor, wrote to senior adviser Valerie Jarrett in May 2010 to raise red flags about the president’s impending visit to Solyndra’s Fremont, Calif., headquarters.

“A number of us are concerned that the president is visiting Solyndra,” Westly wrote in 2010. “There is an increasing concern about the company because their auditors, Coopers & Lybrand, have issued a ‘going concern’ letter. … Many of us believe the company’s cost structure will make it difficult for them to survive long term.”

Westly’s email at the time continued: “I just want to help protect the president from anything that could result in negative or unfair press. If it’s too late to change/postpone the meeting, the president should be careful about unrealistic/optimistic forecasts that could haunt him in the next 18 months if Solyndra hits the wall, files for bankruptcy, etc.”

The Republican National Committee last week has made Westly a star of its video attacking Obama over the government’s investments in companies in which Westly invested.

"The Obama Administration betrayed American taxpayers when it dumped hundreds of millions of public dollars into Solyndra while ignoring clear warnings about the company's dire financial situation," spokesman Ryan Williams said. "President Obama’s first term worked out well for his donors who got special access and taxpayer money for their failed ventures. It hasn’t worked as well for the 23 million Americans struggling for work in the worst economic recovery our country has ever had."

Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki took issue with Romney's "false and misleading attacks" on Solyndra. She cited media accounts in POLITICO and other outlets that have debunked some of the GOP claims about Westly's role working on energy projects with the Obama administration.

"Unlike Mitt Romney, we refuse to cede the clean energy market to China and will keep fighting to grow the industry in the us," Psaki added.